Crematoriums in China told AFP on Tuesday that they were saturated, as the country ended most of the measures of its so-called “zero Covid” policy in early December. Since then, the country has faced an unprecedented wave of the disease.
Hospitals are overwhelmed, while anti-flu drugs are lacking in pharmacies. In Chongqing (southwest), a municipality-province with more than 30 million inhabitants, a crematorium has no more room to keep the bodies.
Their number in recent days is “much greater than before”, said an employee who did not wish to give his name. “We are all very busy, there is no more room for the bodies in the cold rooms,” he said, without however being able to say whether or not the deaths are linked to Covid.
Number of deaths underestimated
A similar situation prevails at the other end of the country. ‘Obviously we’re busy, what place isn’t right now?’, pretends to wonder 1300 km away a crematorium in Baoding, near Beijing. The Chinese capital and its 22 million inhabitants are particularly affected by the Covid which has spread at lightning speed in recent days.
Authorities reported five more deaths in the city on Tuesday, following two the day before. These figures are grossly underestimated, warn experts.
AFP saw more than a dozen vehicles waiting to enter, mostly hearses or funeral cars, outside the Dongjiao crematorium in Beijing on Tuesday. A driver in line said he had been waiting for several hours. The facility declined to comment on the cause of death.
Work overload
In Canton (south), a crematorium reported an “extremely worrying” situation. ‘We cremate more than 40 bodies a day compared to a dozen before. We are three to four times busier than in previous years,’ testified an employee on condition of anonymity.
China lived for nearly three years under the yoke of strict health restrictions, in the name of a so-called “zero Covid” policy which made it possible to protect those most at risk. About three weeks ago, the Asian giant abruptly ended most of these measures, including quasi-compulsory screening tests.
/ATS